Driver licences - Apply to be a taxi or private hire driver

• It can be expensive to be a taxi or private hire driver - check our fees (and those of your GP for the medical and Blue Lamp Trust or  AAdrivetech) before you apply.
• We check police, medical and driving records. If we refuse you a licence we will record this on the National Register of Revocations and Refusals (LGA site) who will keep this record for 25 years. See also the convictions policy in our policy guide (PDF document).
• The application process can take 12 weeks or more.
• You will need to renew your driver application and pay renewal fees every 3 years.
• Vehicles need to be tested (fees apply) at least every 12 months. 
• When you are licensed with us you will need to comply with our licence conditions.
• See our policy guide (PDF document) for more information.

Read Our Taxi and Private Hire policy document (PDF) and Waverley's website - taxi pages

Complete our New driver licence application form and email a scan of the completed form to us with the information set out below:

1. Provide information for a criminal records check
2. Show your right to work in the UK (If you have not lived in the UK for all of the last 5 years you will need a Certificate of Good Conduct from your country’s consulate or embassy in Britain)
3. Share your driving licence information with us.

When we have received and processed your form and the information at 1, 2 and 3 above, we will contact you to take payment for the DBS check (see our fees) and arrange for you to come in to sign the DBS form and application form and show us original hard copy versions of your identity documents. 

• We will give you a form for your doctor to provide a medical report on you. You will need to pay your Medical Practice for this. If there are any medical issues raised in the report, we may refer it to our consultant doctor for a second opinion. The consultant doctor will charge for this and you must pay the fee. We will not refund these or your doctor’s charges if your application fails.
• We will send you a link to a short training course which you must pass about spotting signs of child sexual exploitation and how to report concerns about vulnerable people.
• We will ask you to complete a Blue Lamp Trust or AA drivetech advanced drivers course for taxi/private hire drivers.

To take the test you must have already applied to be a driver with us.

When we have checked that your application is complete and satisfactory we will invite you to a verbal knowledge test.

The test lasts up to an hour. The test will cover your:

• understanding about our taxi and private hire policy and your responsibilities under it.
• knowledge of the Waverley area including landmarks, places of interest, boundaries, and the town where you intend to work.
• knowledge of:
  • the specific town or village you will be working in
  • Waverley borough as a whole
  • how to navigate around Waverley and to key areas outside (eg airports and nearby towns). 
• You will be asked to clearly and understandably describe local journeys and also journeys to a wider area (other towns, ports and airports for instance).

We do not provide any resources for the test but advise you to:

• use a good street map and drive around the area
• research the boundary of Waverley and know whether local towns and villages are inside or outside Waverley.

The Hackney Carriage knowledge test is slightly more in depth than the private hire knowledge test and also checks whether you know the shortest routes.

You will be told at the end of the test whether you have passed.

If you pass the knowledge test

We will prepare a licence, and a badge with your photo and licence number on and send these to you.  You will need to wear this badge on a lapel or on a neck cord or clip which we provide. This licence badge must be visible to passengers.

If you fail the knowledge test

You will be given the option to re-take the test at a later date. You will need to pay a fee to re-take the test. 

If you cancel or miss a test

if you do not turn up or arrive too late you will not be allowed to sit the test and will have to wait for a new date for a test.  We may charge you for cancelling a test at short notice or for missing a test.